Most of you drink filtered or non-chlorinated bottled water, so why would you shower in what you won't drink?

Taking a warm shower or lounging in a tub filled with hot chlorinated water, one inhales chloroform. Researchers recorded increases in chloroform concentration in bathers’ lungs of about 2.7 ppb after a 10-minute shower. Worse, warm water causes the skin to act like a sponge; and so one will absorb and inhale more chlorine in a 10-minute shower than by drinking eight glasses of the same water.

Research presented at the American Chemical Society in 1986 demonstrated that showering leads to greater exposure to toxic chemicals in tap water than drinking the water does.

The dangers and risks of chlorine exposure are serious – including, but not limited to…Irritation of the eyes, sinuses, throat, and skinAggravation of the lungs Excessive free radical formation, which results in accelerated aging Hardened arteries Difficulty metabolizing cholesterol Higher vulnerability to genetic mutation Development of cancer

In a recent article in The American Journal of Public Health, chlorine was linked to measurable increases in certain types of cancer. The article also reported that up to 2/3 of our harmful exposure to chlorine is through absorption by the skin during showering.

Even if you can't detect the presence of chlorine in your water via smell or taste, that doesn't mean you're safe from the consequence of exposure. Chlorine exposure can be especially harmful for individuals with pre-existing conditions such as sinus conditions, allergies, skin rashes, emphysema and asthma.

Got Chloroform?

The most current findings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicate that virtually every home in America has a detectable level in the air of chloroform gas — a derivative of chlorine and a known carcinogen — due to chlorine and showering.

Chloroform has been linked to liver and kidney cancer in laboratory animals. A human study published by the American Journal of Epidemiology shows bladder cancer risk to double with exposure to chlorine by-products. Another human study reported by the American Journal of Public Health shows a 21 percent increase bladder cancer risk and a 38 percent increase in rectal cancer risk.

Dr. John Andelman, Ph.D., says the dangers of exposure to chlorine during showers via absorption through the skin as well as inhalation cannot be overstated. Andelman is especially concerned with the high concentrations of chlorine and synthetic chemicals that can enter the body this way.

Experts used to believe that ingestion was the primary method of chlorine intake, but new studies show that inhalation and skin exposure intake are even higher. One of the most prevalent forms of chlorine taken in through inhalation is chloroform. Remember, chloroform is a carcinogen, and it's also linked to excessive free radical formation, cell mutation, and the oxidation of cholesterol.

As Dr. Mercola explains, when we inhale chloroform, it goes directly into our bloodstreams without any kind of preliminary detoxification. So unless you are regularly taking minute-long showers in cold water, "your body is like a sponge for these airborne toxins every second you spend in the shower," says Mercola.

How to Protect Yourself from the Hazards of Chlorine

Obviously, avoiding showers altogether is not an option. There's a far better (and simpler) solution — and that is … to get the chlorine out of your water. The quickest and cheapest way to eliminate chlorine and its hazardous derivatives from your water supply is to install a shower filter. There is also whole house water filtration as a way to get every tap in the house, it does come at a cost though.

The individual shower head filters are widely available and easy to use. They attach directly to the faucet, and are capable of removing not only chlorine but also other chemicals such as water-soluble lead, mercury, nickel, chromium, iron, and other metals. These filters remove more contaminants than any other method, and also enhance the water's pH balance.